Photo: A good start under the Italian sun

Chase The Sun is a coast to coast challenge on or close to the longest day of the year. It started in the UK in 2008 and now has Chase The Sun UK South, UK North, Ireland and Italia. We are challenged to ride from one coast to the other starting at daybreak and finishing before sunset.

Saturday 22nd of June’s 278km / 2,613m ride from Cesenatico on the Adriatic Sea to Tirrenia on the Tyrrhenian Sea was supposed to be my third ride this year with our dear friend Gino. As you might know from our 24 hours to Paris and Sicilia No Stop he is in still in hospital after his fall in February.

We have to ride for him now.

We originally booked it as a four, but only three of us made it to the start.

Colin, Andy & Jyde just before dawn

Imagine you had the idea to do this ride a year ago. Imagine entering in November then researching, booking flights, car hire, accommodation and a host of logistical challenges. Imagine losing one of your best buddies for the ride in February. Imagine how you’d feel at 05:00 having your QR code scanned for the start and thinking about Gino not being with us. Imagine starting out with 250 other riders the moment dawn broke. Imagine the excitement of riding in a pelton at 30 km/h along the flat heading towards the climbs of the Appennines. Imagine having ridden only 40km when a rider behind you says your rear wheel is leaning to the left. Imagine checking the through axle and the wheel looking fine. Imagine riding ahead of me so I could check the rear wheel. Imagine me saying “You’re wheel definitely isn’t straight.” Imagine dismounting and the wheel looking perfectly straight again. Strange.

Then imagine how you’d feel when you spotted this:

Imagine the disappointment, anger, and despair. Jyde was understandibly gutted, as we were for him. Andy and I faced a stark choice. Abandon with Jyde or carry on. Jyde headed for the nearest train station 10km away. We set off in persuit of the peleton. We agreed that we wanted to get at least one of us to the finish as two of the original four musketeers were now out of the ride.

We were now the very last riders. As we approached the first climb we could see the first of the ‘stragglers’ ahead which gave us an incentive to catch up. We overtook a few more on the way up. We’d agreed to treat the first control like a pitstop. Stamp, drink, top up water and go. We left about 30 riders behind us at the control. We were back on schedule.

During the briefing the night before the organisers told us they had invested enormous sums of money resurfacing the road all the way up the biggest climb, Valico Tre Faggi (1,000m) and down again to Florence just for us. We all got the joke. The road was the same one that the first stage of the Tour de France would take, in the other direction, a week later. Not for us but fantastic to climb and descend on perfect roads with stunning scenery.

The climb was long but not too steep so we could chat all the way up. We reflected on Jyde and Gino’s misfortune and much else. The kilometres seemed to fly by.

Over the top of the highest climb of the day by 10:00 we were in good shape. The descent into Florence was fantastic. We had enough time in the bank for an unscheduled stop for a reward amongst the crowds. “It’s never a bad thing to stop for gelato” said Andy. I so agreed.

It was slow navigating the busy streets of Florence but at least we gave someone a good laugh. Crawling through the crowds we heard a young English rose ring the bell of a palazzo. “It’s me, can you let me in…. and put some clothes on”. “Yes please” I retorted. “If he’s going to answer the door we definitely want him to put his clothes on”.

My sense of humour didn’t last. Outside Florence was 4km of my pet hate, gravel. That’s 4km too long in my book. At least Andy forced a smile with his photo bomb.

After Florence the last real climb of the day at 430m. This time our reward was more savoury.

A simple but tasty and effective energy boost. In fact Andy felt so good after the pasta he decided to lead out the pacemakers.

One more stop before the final leg. Somewhere in Tuscany.

“Are you trying for a PR?” Andy asked. With a few km to go we were on a cycle path. The surface was half way between gravel and tarmac so I was half happy! We were so close to the finish I was pushing to get it done. We had until 21:04 to get to the finish before sunset. We rode really well together and thanks to Andy’s strength during the day we rolled into the finish at 19:32. Jyde was waiting for us. We’d spent all day on our bikes, he’d spent all day on trains.

Evidence we made it before sunset.

Jyde couldn’t resist taking the piss…. “Just the two of us”… so romantic.

It was a great ride. Stunning scenery, good roads, good food, and great company.

It’s a really well organised event run by Paolo and his team from Turbolento Thinkbike SSD. Recommended.

Such a shame we planned it for four but only two of us finished.

After a night in Tirrenia and the coach return to Cesenatico we had one last duty before heading our separate ways. A toast to Gino.

A big thank you to Alessandro from the coach company who refunded Gino’s coach fare in full in March as soon as he heard the news. We also managed to get 85% of Gino’s entry fee back via the Italian insurance company used for the event. It wasn’t much but at least it was something we could do for him.

Forza Gino.